VA GOV: All Hands On Deck
The VA GOV race may be 11 days from being settled, but that hasn't stopped unnamed Obama admin. officials and nat'l strategists from doing an early post-mortem in the pages of the WaPo. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) doesn't give much credence to anonymous sources, but he admits the Deeds camp has had its share of problems.
Still, he's quick to defend his fellow Dem from the accusation of having misplayed the Obama card. "You cannot use the same template as last year because of the high-energy stakes in the presidential race and Barack Obama's personal characteristics and everything else," Webb told On Call during a trip to Old Town Alexandria this afternoon. "My view is they're doing what they can with the template that they have to use this year."
State Sen. Creigh Deeds' (D) mistake wasn't that he went too negative against ex-AG Bob McDonnell (R), Webb said, but rather he allowed himself to be defined by his opponent. "I do believe that they could have been better at the beginning in terms of defining what his journey is -- he's got a great story to tell," Webb said. "It's not in the public consciousness in the way that it could have been. Once [voters] see what his journey is and what his style of governance has been, they're going to be very comfortable with him."
VA's senior sen. had crossed the Potomac to rally about 40 supporters at the Dems' Alexandria campaign office. Before he spoke, ex-Rep. Leslie Byrne (D-11) warmed up the mostly older crowd and reminded them to turn out 11/3. "If Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax do their job, and if Tidewater, Hampton Roads does their job, we're going to be calling Creigh Deeds the 71st governor of Virginia," she said.
About McDonnell, Byrne added, "he decided a long time ago that he was going to govern from the far, radical right."
After he was introduced, Webb picked up on that point. "I think we can legitimately say, 'who is this guy?'," he said. Turning to the race, Webb said it's tough getting "campaign weary" VAers to tune in before close to Election Day. "The typical voter really doesn't start focusing in until the last 10 days or so of the campaign," he said. "The more people get to know Creigh Deeds, the more people are going to gravitate toward him."
But does Deeds have enough time to get voters acquainted? "I hope so," Webb said afterward. "The more strongly Creigh Deeds defines himself over the next 10 or 11 days, the better off he'll be."
[SEAN J. MILLER]